Saturday, March 31, 2018

Lent is a period of fasting, moderation, and self-denial traditionally observed by Catholics and some Protestant denominations. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter Sunday. The length of the Lenten fast was established in the 4th century as 46 days (40 days, not counting Sundays). During Lent, participants eat sparingly or give up a particular food or habit. It’s not uncommon for people to give up smoking during Lent, or to swear off watching television or eating candy or telling lies. It’s six weeks of self-discipline.

Taking the example of the Old Testament the Catholics instituted Lenten season as a austere season of repentance in sackcloth and ashes with fasting to consecrate themselves to the Lord and to walk in His way and will by self-denial (Esther 4:1-3; Jeremiah 6:26; Daniel 9:3).

But over a period of time, slowly the tradition of lent has become a sacramental season where people have falsely come to think that they 'lend' something to the Lord in order to attract or earn His blessings in their life, this is where the whole tradition of lent has gone wrong in their doctrine and belief. The Bible expresses the fact that God is no man's debtor, no one has first given God anything or was present first before Him in existence, that He should repay back to Him. God needs no resources from anyone because He is sufficient in Himself (Rom 11:35; Job 41:11). David said rightly when he and his people gave for the extension of the Kingdom of God, "But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You." (1 Chron 29:14). In other words, whatever we give, we actually give to God out of what He has already given to us. That is why in reality, we cannot out-give God, because He is the one who provides everything for us in our life first and foremost. No one first gave God anything, so He is under no obligation to settle up with anyone. No one deserves anything from God, thus no one can expect payment from God for what he/she does.

Many Christians have come to believe that giving something up for Lent is a way to attain God’s blessing. But the Bible teaches that grace cannot be earned; grace is “the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17). Paul clearly reveals further that when a person works for earning the blessings of God, the wages are not counted as grace but rather as a debt that God has to repay (Rom 4:4). No man is justified by works or blessed by it, to boast about it before God (Rom 4:2), so such a person comes under self-condemnation (Matt 27:3-5; Titus 3:10-11; Rev 12:10-11), curse of the law and under the law of sin and death which condemns them rather than keep them under the blessing hand of God (Gal 3:10; Rom 2:12; 8:1-2). God is no man's debtor which actually means that no human can manipulate God by works of fasting or pleading to twist the arms of God to receive blessings for their own selfish gain and twisted motives. The real fasting that God expects from his children is to fast and pray to him in secret, not to twist the arms of God, but rather to afflict one's soul and humble oneself before God to know the spiritual poverty that they find in themselves and come to ask God for His light to shine and guide one self in the path of God and to receive the guidance of the Lord (Matt 6:6, 3-4, 16, 17-18), only such pursuit of God will bring satisfaction in one's soul, strength in our bones to be like a watered garden whose spring of water will never fail, this is the true blessing for which honest believers must seek in their lives (Isa 58:5, 6-11). When we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteous way of living, all the things that we need in our day to day lives, God has promised to provide it all automatically in our lives, so that we do not even have to fast for it when we are walking right with God (Matt 6:32-33, 34). In short, fasting can be a good thing, and God is pleased when we repent of sinful habits and it is not for just 46 days of Lent season but in every day of our lives. Have you ever come to realize that it is not just the sin of the world in general that crucified Jesus on the Cross, but rather it is your every personal sin of the past, present and future that caused Jesus to be crucified on the Cross? If you haven't yet come to that place of realization, your must seek the face of God to break more of your stony heart and give you more and more of a softened heart of flesh filled with the love of God (Ezek 36:26; Matt 13:22, 23; Rom 5:5).

So we must clearly know that it is not a Biblical thing to keep Lent but rather it is a tradition of the Church which had led many in to wrong belief and doctrines, which had further led them in to religiosity rather than a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ which actually unties the blessings of God over our lives. If we really want to observe Lent, then it should be done to repent of sins and consecrate our lives for the service of God. Thus fasting should lead us to humbleness before God, not boasting about what we have done or do for God, which is nothing but religious pride that comes in to us because of our works we do rather than walk in His grace which we receive by faith as a free gift which pleases God (Eph 2:8-9; Jam 4:8-9, 10; Tit 3:15; Philemon 1:25). When we truly learn the love of God and live by it, we cannot boast about our love for God because it is God who loved us first without which we could never have had the chance to love Him at all (1 John 4:19). Never ever forget, we love Him now because He unconditionally loved us first when we were enemies of God living in sin, thus giving us a chance to love Him back by allowing us to be drawn towards Him by our Heavenly Father and thus saving us from sin and death, to make us live a abundant life (John 10:10).

May lent be a season to lend our gifts and services to others in the name of Jesus (Col 3:17), so that "God is not unjust to forget our work and the love that we have shown toward His name, having ministered to the saints, and still ministering." (Heb 6:10, BLB Generalized). God in His right time will shower His wonderful heavenly and earthly blessings upon blessings for the works we have done for Him in the name of Jesus, so that we and our family will come under the intense favor of the Lord now and forever (Gal 6:9-10). Praise the Lord!

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